The dreaded "T" word

[gspig]

Transom repair that is. People use poly-resin all the time for fiberglass repair, right? I thought I could use it to put the new wood in my transom, I thought wrong. So now that I have the poly scraped off, I have decided epoxy must be better. 2 questions: Do I need cloth or matting for the layer between the first board and the skin? Is regular cure resin good enough or should I use slow cure?

 

[Maximerc]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

I did mine this winter, Epoxy all the way. Slow cure has the most penetration. I used a cloth between the two transom parts and the fiberglass outer skin (transom outer hull). coated everything with two coats first before assembly. BTW when doing the assembly of the transom.. I bet you dont WANT to use faster set epoxy .. I was busy for a good hour or more, slathering on the glue, setting the cloth, clamping , poking here, and poking there. Good luck !

 

[qaztwo]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

On mine coated the wood with plain epoxy, then mixed up a lot of epoxy and milled glass and glued to the outer skin and the sides. Also apllied 3 layers of 24oz roving with a mat top coat for extra strenght and protection. After all that glued some wood blocks on the transom so I would have some places to screw my trim pump, blower motor, and anything else to without having to to screw into the new transom. I agree about using slow hardener. Spent a lot of time adjusting and clamping. <br />Good luck

 

[gspig]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

Just order West system epoxy with slow cure hardener. It was a kit with 1 quart resin choice of hardener, 3 pair of nitril gloves, and mix pumps. I also got silica filler. I hope it is enough to do the glueing. I still have plenty of poly resin to do cloth covering.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

Epoxy is better because it it easier to use, and you know it will bond. Poly will work just fine, but it is more difficult to use, and preperation is key. You can rebuild a boat with poly all the way and end up with a hull that is more than strong enough. I rebuilt my hull with poly, and it has not shown a single bit of stress yet. Epoxy just makes life easier, but like anything like that, it comes at a cost.

 

[Mark42]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

Originally posted by gspig:<br /> ... People use poly-resin all the time for fiberglass repair, right? I thought I could use it to put the new wood in my transom, I thought wrong. So now that I have the poly scraped off....

What??? Who told you that polyester resin is not allowed in transoms? Never heard that before. Epoxy is easier and probably a better all around product, but polyester resin is a good product too and will produce a solid sound transom.<br /><br />BTW the Seacast product is basically polyester resin with micro spheres and chopped glass. And no plywood. It produces one of the strongest transoms in the repair market.

 

[gspig]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

No one told me poly won't work, just when I used it I had no luck. The instructions on the container were incomplete. It gave the drop of hardener per ounce, but didn't give any pot time. By the time I had it mixed and spread, it had gelled to the point that it wouldn't stick. Within 10 minutes, the poly had skined over and I was able to push the plywood off the transom skin. If that wasn't bad enough, I was able to use a scraper and remove all the poly from the plywood I am using for the transom. I came off in long strips.

 

[BillP]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

Polyester resin doesn't bond well over epoxy so be aware of that. If you happen to read differently contact the polyester resin mfg who made your resin to see what they say. <br /><br />There are downsides to slow curing, expecially on vertical surfaces. It has time to run down and dry the lamination out. On foam surfaces the resin will be absorbed into the foam and leave a dry laminate. Be ready to deal with that. <br /><br />Also, you cannot use the same type fiberglass mat for poly and epoxy. Poly mat has binders that hold the fibers together and epoxy won't melt them (it has no styrene). The binders are like waterproofing and if not melted the fibers won't saturate completely. There is a special mat for epoxy.

 

[Crappie_Fan]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

Dont give up on the Poly resin so easy, I have used it on all of my Fiberglass projects, and given the first few times I was aggervated trying to learn what ratios I could get away with and how much pot life I would get out of it. I found that on a warm day 80 degress or more I can use 5 drops of MEKP per oz. of resin and it will harden fine in time ( prolly 1 hour till tack free). And you cant mix up tons of the stuff at one time or it will build heat and cure even faster. Was you just brushing on mixed resin to the existing hull or was you saturating glass? Heres a link to a picture of the transom on my 14' boat, and now that everything is glassed in, I would bet money that the boat could be picked up by holding onto the transom alone. Poly is good stuff just have to learn how to work with it. But epoxy is alot more forgiving and is stronger since it a glue as well, thats one of the reason people prefer it over poly, but like others have said a solid job can be done with either one, just depends on the person doing it.<br /><br />Good Luck

 

[Mark42]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

Hey Crappie_Fan!<br /><br />How did the "Spanish Windless" clamps work for you? Happy with their performance? Hope you don't mind I linked to one of your pics here so folks know what I'm talking about. Link to original post: Clamping transom wood to hulls' outer skin question <br /><br />

 

[Crappie_Fan]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

They worked fantastic, I used them on the transom and then to hold the small peice of wood seen in the pic above for the tranducer to mount too. You couldnt buy a better clamp for the money spent to make those. Excellent idea, props to you for recommending them.

 

[Realgun]

Re: The dreaded "T" word

Gspig<br /><br />

Just order West system epoxy with slow cure hardener. It was a kit with 1 quart resin choice of hardener, 3 pair of nitril gloves, and mix pumps. I also got silica filler. I hope it is enough to do the glueing. I still have plenty of poly resin to do cloth covering.

To strenghten the epoxy and for strength get some milled glass fibers the longer the better. Silca is a good filler for gaps but you want strength also. You can mix both milled glass and silica into the epoxy and get a good thick strong mixture. The more fibers the stronger the mixture.